: a likeness especially of a person: asa: a sculpture of a person on a tombb: a crude figure meant to represent a hated person

How do you use it?

When we visited Westminster Abbey in London, I was astonished by the face of the effigy on one of the tombs -- it looked just like my Aunt Jan!

Are you a word wiz?

"Effigy" derives from the Latin verb "fingere," which means "to shape." Which other words do you think come from that same root?

A. fiction, figment, figure

B. prodigy, adage, embody

C. fig, pacific, scientific

D. effect, affect, essay

"Fingere" means "to shape," and the English nouns that come from it name things you can shape. A "fiction" is a story you shape with your imagination. "Figments" are shaped by the imagination too; they're something you imagine or make up. A "figure" can be a numeral, a shape, or a picture that you shape as you draw or write. And an "effigy" is a likeness of a person shaped out of stone or other materials.